Visitors

Years ago, (fifteen? twenty?) Nancy Lloyd replaced the traditional Church Guestbook with a loose leaf arrangement with removable pages. It fills up with amazing speed, though I know from personal observation that not all visitors to the church– only about one in ten – sign it. Past guest books and boxes of the ‘completed’ log pages are stored in our Back Forty on behalf of the Oysterville Restoration Foundation.

A few days ago Nyel removed all of the filled-up pages for 2014 and inserted some pristine and pure sheets – all that we had in reserve from the last time they were reprinted. We saved out one for copying purposes and put the book with refills back on the table in the church vestibule.

Oysterville Church Vestibule

I enjoy looking at those old pages. Last year 73 were filled in; only a few lines were left blank here and there. There are 36 lines to a page – 18 on each side – and many account for two people as in “Mr. and Mrs. John Smith.” If I factor in my guestimate of how many visitors actually sign, I think we can safely say we get 10,000 to 20,000 folks in the church each year. And that’s not counting those who attend weddings, funerals, vespers, and other events throughout the year.

The signers come from everywhere – the majority, especially in the winter months, from Washington and Oregon, but during summer, from all over the U.S and beyond. On August 9^th last summer, for instance, there were visitors from Montana, Washington, Illinois, Oregon, New Mexico, Australia, Colorado, Louisiana, California, Nevada and South Dakota! All in one day!

Page from Oysterville Church Log

But what really warms my cockles are the comments. Many, many simply say, “Thank you” or “Thank you for sharing.” Others say, “Beautiful!” or “Lovely” or “Cool!” Some seem like personal messages: “Mom loved it. So did I.” “Great way to end my run.” “:y brother married here 30 years ago.” And there are so many appreciative comments about the village:  “Beautiful little town” and positive remarks about our preservation efforts “Thank you for preserving the area’s history.”

Those comments go a very long way to eradicate the criticisms from those I’ve come to think of as the “Preservation Zealots” – those people living in our midst who who bitch and moan that we should be using square nails and dimensional lumber from old-growth trees while the rest of us patch and prop and try to keep our structures going within the rules and guidelines. Well, perhaps I exaggerate (especially about the nails) – but not by much!

Hooray for our visitors!  They leave us filled to overflowing with good feelings!  And their comments and support go a long way toward making all the effort seem worthwhile.